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You Never Forget Your First Time: Rookies Will Face First Test

FOXBOROUGH -- Logan Mankins can recall the moment like it was yesterday.

The Patriots’ rookie left guard stepped out onto the field at Gillette Stadium for his first regular-season game in the NFL on Sept. 8, 2005. He wasn’t cowed by the noise, the fireworks or the fact the game was a Thursday night opener broadcast to a national television audience.

But when he looked across the field and saw Oakland nose tackle Ted Washington headed in his direction -- the 6-foot-5, 375-pound Ted Washington -- well, that was another matter completely.

“I said, ‘Man, this might be the biggest human being I ever saw,’” Mankins said with a smile. “During the game, I hit him after the whistle and he looked at me and said, ‘Young feller, don’t do that again.’”

For some rookies, that “Welcome to the NFL” moment doesn’t always come on the field. Cornerback Shawn Springs was a rookie with the Seahawks in 1997, and he recalled a trip to a Seattle-area “T.G.I. Friday’s” where he spotted veterans Cortez Kennedy and Bennie Blades with a group drinking on the other side of the restaurant. They smiled and waved in his direction, and Springs thought everything was cool.

“Next thing you know, the lady then brings over the tab and I saw the drink bill. That was my welcome to the NFL moment -- it was like $1,500 worth of alcohol,” Springs said with a smile.

“‘These guys are alcoholics. Welcome to the NFL,’” he recalled thinking with a laugh. “I saw that tab and that was my first moment in the NFL. I was like ‘Holy smokes. I just got here.’”

Whether it was a stern talking-to from a veteran the size of a Buick or picking up the tab on multiple rounds of drinks, every rookie has that moment where they realize the game has truly changed. With the regular-season opener looming Monday night against the Bills, a few of the veterans in the New England locker room recalled their first NFL experience.

Bottom line? There’s a world of difference between preseason football and -- to borrow a phrase from many veterans in the Patriots’ locker room -- when the bullets start to fly.

“You’re just getting thrown in, and it’s sink or swim. Either you produce or they’re not going to put you out there anymore,” Mankins said. “It’s a big difference. In the regular season, the teams are game-planning for you. They’re not just working on their stuff. The guys are playing hard and fast, and it’s a lot different speed in the regular season.”

“That’s one of those things as a rookie, you just have to experience for yourself,” Springs said. “I think you just have to go out and see for yourself. It won’t take you but a couple plays to realize it -- the speed changes, from preseason to regular season to postseason.”

After picking up a round of drinks off the field, Springs’ on-field moment came in his first preseason game -- against NFL legend Jerry Rice. Gulp. That was followed by his regular-season against chatty wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

“[Keyshawn] sat out there and talked trash to me the whole time. But it was fun. The Jets beat us 41-3 that day,” Springs remembered. “I did OK. I did OK. It was good. It wasn’t the first game that got me -- it was the second game. [John] Elway got me. I took my lumps.

“But that happens to everybody. You’re going to come in and learn and take your lumps. That’s part of the maturing process.”

“You just have to play,” said tight end Benjamin Watson when asked about advice he could give a rookie heading into his first regular season game. “You can tell them there’s a difference from going from preseason to the regular season, but the first game is like … everything goes up a notch. From the intensity to the execution to the speed on the defense to … everything just happens a whole lot faster.”

“The only way you can get used to that is getting out there and playing.”

Defensive lineman Ron Brace is one of five rookies who could see playing time in Monday’s preseason opener. He’s expecting the pace of the game to rachet up significantly.

“I figure it to be a lot faster, because these games actually count for something,” said the Boston College product. “Things are going to be a lot faster -- guys are going to be a lot more aggressive. They’re going to have the veterans in a lot more than they did in the preseason. I’m expecting it to be really fast and tough.”

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